Page:The Amateur's Greenhouse and Conservatory.djvu/57

Rh put through the top and bottom into the ridge-tree and rafter-plate. The rafters and studs must likewise be secured by these screws, as at Figs. 11&mdash;4. In the section, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, show the door stud, the angle stud, and one of the side studs, which are all of one size, the difference consisting only in the putting on of splines and mouldings. The end gable lights may be fixed in their places by means of splines, in the same manner as the side sashes. In the same section, Fig. 8 represents light iron rods suspended from the rafters, as bearers of light shelves, for the accommodation of bedding plants, or other small things which require a situation near the glass. Referring to the ground plan (9, 9, 9, 9) are boxes placed in the angles, in which may be planted climbers, to train over the roof or sides of the building. Fig. 7, stage, which must be strong enough to bear the plants, but may be made in parts, so that it can be removed without having to be knocked to pieces. It will be necessary, in order to protect the building from damp and the liability to settle down, to place it upon some firm and solid matter let into the ground, as brick piers or wood blocks. A platform of bricks laid on the surface, gives a firm and lasting foundation, provided the subsoil has not been recently disturbed.

The heating of a moveable house must also be managed by a moveable apparatus, which will be some kind of stove, and which must have a pan on the top to hold water; and as artificial heat in such a house as this will only be required in winter, the stove might, for that period, occupy a place near one of the doors, and the smoke-tube be carried through the glass at the top of the house. Should a building of this kind be required for vines, the side lights should be reduced to one half the height, and these to open, as here shown, for ventilation; the roof lights would then be longer, and a much steeper roof obtained. A small aperture or two at the ridge, capable of being closed by a wood slide, would, with the side lights hung as recommended, effect a perfect ventilation. The walk would, in such a house, be down the centre, and the vines might be planted in boxes, having large openings in their bottoms to allow the roots to escape into a border made up inside the house for that purpose. The planting them in boxes would enable them to bear removal at almost any season.